Willie Penrose (Westmeath, Labour)

I move amendment No. 9:

In page 5, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following:

"1.—The Minister shall within 6 months from after the passing of this Act prepare and lay before both Houses of the Oireachtas a report on ensuring Parents on Child Benefit Book Payments claim their final child benefit payment.".

This is an unusual situation. Following an investigation of the matter, the Minister was made aware by his officials that 1,800 people do not claim the final payment in respect of the last month of their youngest child. It only affects those people on book payments. The people who use modern electronic means of transfer are not affected. The officials were quite adamant about this. I watched them on Committee Stage. Body language can reveal a great deal. They were adamant on this point.

The problem arises when students finish the leaving certificate. I am quite sure the book only runs from June to May and I am not usually that far wrong. The officials suggested that people just need to go to the post office but in order to get the final payment people may well have to get a certificate from the school to confirm the student's attendance. Students can drop out at any stage. I contacted the Minister about a case where a young girl dropped out of college but returned to school to gain extra points. The reply stated that child benefit would not be paid because she was not in recognised educational establishment. The Minister cannot tell me this does not happen because it does. It has been shown that 1,800 people do not claim their final child benefit payment. We are saying information in this regard should be furnished to the people concerned.

The one reason we will vote against the Bill at 1.30 p.m. is the Minister's proposal to abolish the pre-retirement allowance. We did it on Committee Stage and we will do it again. We are wholeheartedly against this unwarranted proposal. It is one of the only ideological arguments the Minister has against us. We can usually reach a consensus but in this instance the Minister indicated he would not compromise. We voted against the proposal on Committee Stage. We are consistent on this. We believe it is the wrong move. It is a fait accompli and therefore we are voting against the Bill because of the position the Minister has adopted on the abolition of the pre-retirement allowance.

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